Bluebelle, The Teacher's Bear
by Teacher Bear
Summary: Bluebelle Mulcahey is your normal average person, if you consider normal to be 3 ft tall blue bear. This is part 1 of a continuing story about an earthbound, undiscovered Care Bear.


Bluebelle, the Teacher's Bear

**Bluebelle, the Teacher's Bear**

Chapter 1: The Fateful Floods of Philadelphia

Our story begins midsummer in Pennsylvania, 1935. There had been massive rain fall during the summer and flash flooding had been a problem in the state, especially in and around the Philadelphia area. The flooding had been especially harsh in the rural forests.

On one of the many stormy days in June that year, a family of bears, consisting of a father bear, mother bear, and a female cub, continued the search that they had begun that day for a dry place to wait out an oncoming storm. Since their cave had been flooded out from the week before's rains and the waters had not yet receded, they would be needing somewhere to stay temporarily.

After a while of searching with no luck, the storm clouds looming above them broke open. The father bear felt that the best thing for his family at this point was to climb into one of the nearby trees for shelter. He figured that at least they would be up off the ground, alleviating the worry of being swept away by the reoccurring flash flooding.

Just as he began explaining his decision to his family, a bolt of lightning struck one of the trees. The bear family looked at the damaged tree in horror. The mother bear turned to her husband in an attempt to see if he had any better ideas for shelter, preferably ones that would not hold the risk of electrocution, but the father bear stood dazed, in shock at the sight of the freshly damaged tree. Only the cries of his daughter brought him back to reality of the situation. He knew for the sake of his family that he had to find some kind of shelter, and quickly.

A few minutes of searching resulted in the father bear finding a rickety old rangers station propped up on stilts. He figured that at least he and his family would be up off the ground and not have another scare like that of the lightening stricken tree. By this time, the rain was falling very heavily and they were standing in ankle deep water. With his daughter in one arm, he, his wife, and his infant cub had made their way into the station to get out of the rain.

The station was not much better than the outside. The roof had leaks and it was damp and moldy inside, plus the fact that they were not the only creatures that figured the old rangers station was a good shelter, making it rather cramped. Despite these setbacks, they were grateful that they had found a place out of the rain.

Little did they know that the reservoir near by had just broken from the heavy flood waters and that a powerful wall of water was heading their way…

The bear family decided to make the best of their shelter. The mother bear found a corner of the station that was somewhat dry to sleep in. The other animals, in fear of being a snack for the bears, let them have free range of the station. They did not realize that the bears were too tired to even consider hunting.

Just as the bears were starting to get somewhat comfortable, they felt the stilts of the ranger station begin to give from the raging waters below. Before they knew it, the station's stilts gave a loud CRACK and the building came crashing into the flood waters.

Upon impact, the old ranger station broke into pieces. The mother bear broke her back in the fall, impairing her from swimming to shore. She was soon drawn under by the current and drowned. Some of the other animals met the same fate as the mother bear, while other lucky ones floated away on bits of the old ranger station that could hold their weight.

The bear cub had grabbed onto a young tree in an attempt to swim to shore. The little trees roots were beginning to weaken under the cubs weight and the strength of the current. The baby bear began to cry out for the help of her parents.

Her father heard her cries and began trying to think of a way to save her. As luck would have it, a log was near enough for the father bear to grab on to and take to his daughter. He knew that the log was too small for him, but it was just perfect for the infant cub. With that, he brought the log up to his child.

Once she had safely boarded onto the log, the father bear found that he hadn't the strength left to save himself. With that, he sadly let go of the log and watched his daughter call out to him as the current took her away. His strength gone, he let out a heavy sigh and was drawn under by the current to join his wife.

The cub could not believe what she had seen and experienced. In what seemed like an instant, she had lost both of her parents. She began to cry over the loss of her mother and father as well as for her overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Her tears eventually put her to sleep on the floating log.

While the baby bear was floating fast asleep, something miraculous happened. Her body began to change in an unexplained way that she would not be able to understand for many, many years. Her fur began to change from brown to navy blue. Her nose became heart shaped. A little red heart developed on her bottom. She also began to take on the body posture much like a human child rather than a baby bear cub. Her vocal chords changed to where she could make human noises. Little did she know that she was becoming that of a Care Bear, but she would not find out what she was for many years to come…

Chapter 2: A New Mother

The current carried her all the way to an urban town in Philadelphia. The log that she was floating on had drifted into a creek at the edge of the woods before reaching the shore. Shortly after reaching the shore, the bear cub began to wake up. At first, she had thought that the events from the night before were just a bad dream and began calling out to her parents for breakfast. After about a minute, she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. As soon as she saw the log her father had used to save her life, the reality of the situation truly began to sink in. Her pain had once again consumed her thoughts and she began to cry again.

The cubs cries were heard by a Dalmatian dog living near by. The Dalmatian, whose name was Freckles, had just had to have her month and a half old puppies sold by the family she lived with, the Mulcahey's, which had made her sink into a deep depression. As soon as she heard the cries of the baby bear, she thought it was one of her puppies calling out to her. The family's back yard went into the woods to which the cries were coming from, so Freckles, with much hope in her heart, decided to see if she had heard the cries of one of her long gone children.

Freckles was quite surprised by what she saw crying by the creek. She had never seen such a peculiar creature in all her life. She wasn't sure if it was a human child in a costume or some kind of animal. All that she knew was that it had stopped crying when it saw her and looked at her in a very needy way…

Indeed, the little cub was grateful that someone had heard her desperate cries for help. She was not sure of the animal that had arrived, but she hoped that it was here to rescue her…

Freckles inched her way slowly up to the little thing to get a better sniff of what it was. All that she knew was that it was staying perfectly still…

The little cub stayed perfectly still for she did not know what to do. All that she could sense was that whatever had come seemed to have been lonely too…

Freckles looked deep into the eyes of the little thing. She could tell that it was all alone and that there was no one to take care of it…

Both the dog and the bear cub were looking at each other eye to eye. They both seemed to pick up on each others feelings. Suddenly, Freckles let out a soft whimper that seemed to encourage the cub to smile and make happy gurgling noises. Freckles licked the bear cub's face happily which made the cub giggle. It was at that moment that Freckles decided to adopt the bear cub as her new puppy. She picked her new daughter up by the scruff of the neck and hoisted her onto her back so that she could take her home.

On the way home, the cub giggled and gurgled happily. This made Freckles heart melt in a very maternal way. Freckles felt that the little one on her back had somehow filled the maternal gap that had been a void since her puppies had been taken away. She began bouncing the little cub on her back in a playful way that made the cub giggle even more.

It was in the middle of their game of horsy in the edge of the woods that she remembered the Mulcaheys. A serge of fear struck into her heart at the thought of her new puppy/bear being sold like the rest of her children. Freckles decided then and there that the bear cub was to stay with her in her dog house. She was afraid to let her daughter out into the yard for fear that her human family might mistake her for a puppy they forgot to sell.

The rest of the way back to the dog house was not as fun filled as it had been before. Freckles feared that the cubs laughter would stir up the suspicions of the Mulcaheys. Upon reaching the edge of the yard, Freckles placed the cub down on the ground and explained as best she could for her daughter to not go anywhere. The cub could tell by her new mother's body language that she was to stay put and did just that. With that, Freckles scouted the perimeter for someone who would give away the fact that she had adopted a new child. As soon as she saw that the coast was clear, she scooped up the cub and brought her to the dog house. Freckles breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she got her daughter safely to the dog house without being seen.

The cub seemed quite please with her new home and was too tired and hungry to object to her new mother's peculiar request of not going outside. She figured that she had had enough adventures anyway.

Just then, the cub's stomach began to growl loudly. Freckles knew that she had to find the child something to eat soon before she got fussy. She then remembered that she hadn't touched the scraps left over from last nights dinner in her bowl that morning. With that, she dashed out of the dog house and into the Mulcahey's house through the doggie door.

Judging from the scraps that had been left that morning, she could tell that it was Sunday and that the family had left for church. She figured that this was the perfect time to feed her new puppy/bear. She grabbed the bowl in her teeth and carefully took it outside to her hungry daughter.

The cub gobbled most of it up very graciously. Freckles could see that she was making a mess, but she was more that happy to clean it up. She loved how cute her new daughter looked with smudges of syrup and pancake crumbs all over her face and hands. To Freckles, this little cub was a little slice of heaven. The cub felt the same way about her new mother. In what little experiences she had in her life, she had never met anyone outside of her family that was so very giving as Freckles had been to her. She did not quite understand that this feeling was the start of trusting, but she knew that she liked it very much. The dog seemed as if she were smiling at her the whole time and that made the cub feel very comfortable and happy.

After the two had eaten and Freckles had cleaned up as best she could, the two snuggled together and took a wonderful afternoon nap.

Chapter 3: Found by the Mulcaheys

The next day after breakfast, the bear cub began to stir about in want for going outside to play. She nudged her mother and pointed to the outside, but her mother acted in a way that refused it. The cub began crying in protest. Freckles licked her face in a vain attempt to stop the crying. Freckles knew that she could not keep the cub inside all day, but she was still paranoid about letting her out. She could tell when the family left for somewhere by the sound of the car and when they were in the family room together by the sound of the radio, so she figured that these would be the ideal times to take her daughter back down into the edge of the woods to play. In the mean time, she would have to find a way to pacify her daughter.

The cub's fussy cries persisted despite Freckles licking her face, so she tried having the cub play with her tail much like her puppies used to do. The cub seemed to like that for a while, but quickly lost interest. Again, the cub began to fuss. Freckles then tried to nudge her around with her head as a game, but the cub did not like that one bit. The dog was running out of ideas. She knew that she had to keep the cub quiet or else she might be taken away. She had no choice but to scout around for something the cub could play with.

Freckles informed her daughter to stay put while she went looking for a toy. She hoped that the cub would understand not leaving, but just in case decided to stay close to the dog house. In a matter of minutes she saw that one of the children had left a baseball, a ball cap, and a glove out in the back yard. These were perfect things for the cub to play with! She quickly picked them up and brought them in the dog house.

The cub was overly delighted to see the play things. She was soon entertained and remained so for much of the rest of the day, much to Freckles relief. Freckles figured that her cub was safe for now and relaxed a bit to play with her daughter.

Before long, she could smell Mrs. Mulcahey making lunch for the children, which meant that soon she would be feeding her daughter the leftover scraps. She knew that she would have to slip through the doggie door and get the scraps to feed her little girl, so she did not let having a plan in mind did worry her as much. She figured that this would become the norm at meal time. After the lunch routine was over and everything was cleaned up, she and the cub settled down for their afternoon nap.

Once the afternoon and evening meals were out of the way, Freckles kept a keen ear out for the sound of the radio. As soon as music came on the radio, Freckles scooped up the cub and made her way for the woods. Before she and her daughter left for the edge of the woods, Freckles cleaned out the dog house from the cub's toilet usage. The bear cub would have to get used to having to go at certain times.

The cub was glad to get the opportunity to run around and play. She and her new mother played horsy again and many other little games. It was just like the first day all over again.

After about an hour or so, the cub was beginning to get tired. Freckles knew that she had to get her child back to the dog house to go to sleep. Picking her up by the scruff of the neck, Freckles hoisted the cub onto her back for the trek home. Again Freckles had the cub stay put in a hidden spot in the yard while she looked around to see if it was safe. As soon as Freckles gave the okay, she and the cub snuck into the dog house for a good night's sleep.

The next few weeks were just the same. Feeding, entertaining, protecting, and cleaning up after the cub and trips to the edge of the woods became routine for the both of them. The only thing that changed were the toys that the cub had the opportunity to play with whenever one of the children left them out. Freckles would always take the toys back out to the yard whenever the cub was done with them so that the family would not become suspicious, so the cub often never played with the same thing more than once or twice. The changing play things were not the only change of pace. During the trips to the woods, the cub was beginning to learn how to walk. Other than that, everything remained strictly routine.

Despite the love and trust that the cub had established in her new mother, she was still curious to get a good look at the outside of the little dog house. She wanted to follow her mother outside to see what she saw. She wanted to know were all the wonderful food was coming from and where the smells of the food came from. She wanted to know where her play things came from and whose they were. Freckles on the other hand forebode it. She was scared stiff about having the Mulcahey's find her little girl. She tried to explain it to her daughter as best she could, but the cub could not understand her dog language. All that the cub could understand was her mother's body language, and it read as negative to exploring outside. The only opportunity the cub had to go outside was when her mother's family had gone out or listened to the radio at night, and even then she was taken to the edge of the woods to play. She wanted to know what was so bad about the area outside her home and why her mother forebode it so much.

In the time she had spent in her new home, she observed that her mother liked to take a nap in the afternoon. She figured that this would be the ideal time to go exploring. So later on that afternoon when she and her mother settled down for their nap, the cub pretended to be asleep.

Freckles laid her head down on her paws when she saw the bear cub close her eyes. The past few weeks had taken quite a lot out of Freckles, so any opportunity to rest was welcome to her. Once the cub noticed the dog's head go down, she opened one eye to have a look. She saw her mother begin to dose off, so she slowly got up. She then waved her hand in front of her mother to see if she would react. Freckles didn't even stir. As soon as she was sure that her mother was fast asleep, she crept outside to have a look around. Little did she know that from the house, she was going to be watched…

Having just come home from riding his bicycle, Francis, an 11 year old boy with reddish brown hair and glasses, was getting a glass of water from the kitchen sink. Just as he was about to take a sip from his glass, he noticed a small, navy blue bear looking around in his back yard. He readjusted his glasses in disbelief, thinking that he was hallucinating. He then thought that one of his little sister Katherine's teddy bears had come to life. He called for his sister and for his mother to come to the kitchen window to see what was going on.

"Francis, is everything alright?" his mother asked trying to calm her son. He then pointed to the window and said "Look mother! There's a blue teddy bear walking around in the back yard! I think one of Katherine's teddy bears is alive!" Francis then saw his 9 year old sister giggling and became suspicious. "Are you trying to play a trick on me sis?" he then asked her. "Of course not! I don't even own a blue teddy bear anyway!" said Katherine defensively. "Than why were you giggling?" Francis inquired. "I just thought it was funny." she replied. "Doesn't it sound silly mom?" she then questioned her mother, but Mrs. Mulcahey stood transfixed at the sight of the navy blue bear cub toddling around the back yard.

"Children," she said, "we have to investigate this…thing before anyone gets hurt!" "Hurt? But it's so cute!" Katherine replied. "I know dear," she told her daughter, "but it could be more dangerous than meets the eye." There had been stories on the radio and in the newspaper about the Russians testing animals, so Mrs. Mulcahey did not know what to expect.

Mrs. Mulcahey's lack of knowledge did not impair her from going outside unprepared. She grabbed her broom, put on her oven mitts, and wore one of her aprons just in case. Francis got his baseball bat and Katherine took to the mop as her weapon of choice. Mrs. Mulcahey gave her children each an apron and a pair of oven mitts so that they too would be protected.

The Mulcaheys then went outside to see what was going on and just what it was that was checking out their back yard. Mrs. Mulcahey decided to approach the little creature first just to be on the safe side. The bear cub looked at them very curiously and decided to approach the family, giggling and gurgling happily as she went. She figured that if her new mother could be approached and was trustworthy, than why not these others.

Mrs. Mulcahey, a bit iffy about the blue bear toddling up to her, held out her arms and called to the cub softly. She figured that if something bad were to happen, she and the children were to run away. The cub happily toddled up to her and went right into the mother's arms, giving her a big hug. The cub seemed to like them very much, which set their minds at ease. It was then when the family realized that she was harmless and very cute. They decided to pick her up and play with her. The cub was pleased by this and began to giggle and gurgle very loudly.

The commotion woke Freckles from her nap. She opened her eyes and looked in horror at the sight of Mrs. Mulcahey holding her giggling daughter. Freckles barked madly and began snapping at the family in an attempt to rescue her child. She did not want to hurt her human family, but she did not want to loose the cub like she had lost her puppies. Mrs. Mulcahey figured that Freckles thought of the cub as her adopted daughter, especially since Freckles seemed to be acting oddly depressed after the puppies had been taken away and that she seemed to keep to herself so much. She put the blue cub down on the ground and Freckles didn't hesitate to pick her up. She rushed right back into the dog house with the cub to scold the her for her misbehavior.

The little cub began crying. She liked the Mulcaheys very much and didn't think they were bad. Freckles could sense this, but she was still afraid of loosing her adopted child.

The Mulcaheys decided not to give up on the cub or Freckles. Katherine ran inside and gabbed some snacks to try to help coax Freckles out of her dog house with the cub. Freckles stared distrustfully at the Mulcaheys as they called out her name and held out the treats. The cub looked at them with a look of longing. Freckles could see this look on her daughter's face, but still was afraid to let her out.

It wasn't until around dinner time that Freckles decided to make a move. She could tell that the cub was beginning to get hungry and knew that she needed those treats. Freckles slowly inched out of the dog house with the cub happily at her heels.

It took the rest of the evening to convince Freckles that her daughter would be alright. When Freckles did comply to letting the cub out, she was always very watchful of how the family handled her puppy/bear. Every time one of them picked up the cub, she would bark wildly until they put the cub down. It took Freckles well into the evening until she was certain that the cub was there to stay. That night, the children named the cub Bluebelle because of her unique navy blue fur.

As soon as Freckles became comfortable with the family handling Bluebelle, Mrs. Mulcahey moved Bluebelle and Freckles from the doghouse and into the guest bedroom. She figured that this would help build Freckles trust as well as offer a more comfortable place to stay.

Chapter 4: Bluebelle Mulcahey

The Mulcahey family, although very kind, were a lower middle class family. Mrs. Dorothy Mulcahey, the mother, was a young widowed school teacher at the age of 30. Her husband, Patrick, died three years previous in an accident at work and she was left to care for her two children, Francis and Katherine. She had to sell Freckles puppies to help support the family because money was rather scarce. Not only could she sell the dalmatian puppies for 50 to a pet shop, but selling them helped to eliminate the extra mouths to feed.

Despite the lack of money, they lived as comfortably as possible. They ate delicious home cooked meals, were always clothed, and slept in warm, comfortable beds. The children always had just enough, even if Mrs. Mulcahey willingly did without.

Over the years, Bluebelle grew up with the children and was treated just like a sibling rather than a pet. Much to the family's amazement, she acted very human rather than like a bear. She learned to walk, talk, read, write, play the piano, cook, clean house, play sports, and anything else that people learn how to do. Bluebelle even needed glasses to treat astigmatism from reading too much in the dark! She liked to play dolls and dress up with Katherine and ride her bike with Francis. She even helped Francis as he learned how to box by sewing tears in his bunching bag. She went to school with the children and helped Mrs. Mulcahey with the house work. Bluebelle had become a part of the family and in time, a semi-accepted part of the community.

Bluebelle was much like the Mulcaheys in many aspects. She was soft spoken until she needed to do otherwise, very clean, well spoken, loved going to church, had a natural knack for music and art, was terrific at sports, very generous and selfless, enjoyed stories, and was a superb listener. What seemed to make her strikingly different from both the Mulcaheys and from everyone else in the community, aside from being a short navy blue bear, was that she seemed to age slowly. It seemed like it took twice as long for her to grow up as compared to a human. Everyone figured that it was just one of the many unexplainable things about her, along with her navy blue fur.

With the presence of Bluebelle, Freckles also went through some minor changes. She seemed to comprehend things better, catch things that were thrown to her better as well as throw back, and seemed to have a better way of expressing her self through her body language. Otherwise, she was the same old family dog and mother to Bluebelle.

The problem with Bluebelle's slow aging was that she was sometimes picked on not only for being different, but for being underdeveloped. Her mind developed at the same rate as the rest of the children, but her body couldn't seem to catch up. Despite these setbacks, she still had a fairly happy childhood.

One thing Bluebelle really enjoyed while she was growing up was helping Mrs. Mulcahey with her lesson plans. She was very good at getting ideas. Mrs. Mulcahey often told Bluebelle that she would have made an excellent teacher. Bluebelle herself was quite fond of the idea of becoming a teacher. She often dreamt of being a teacher and having a classroom all her own. She would often put stuffed animals into rows and play school with them. Sometimes Freckles would even play school with her daughter because she could see how much she enjoyed it. Bluebelle's childhood dream was to become a teacher when she grew up.

As Bluebelle and the children grew older, so did Freckles. By 1945, it seemed like she was getting weaker and weaker. She was often taken to the vet because of complications due to canine diabetes. The family tried very hard to take care of her, especially Bluebelle. Bluebelle often helped with testing her blood sugar and giving her insulin shots. Freckles could tell that her daughter was doing everything she could and was grateful to her, but unfortunately, no one can stop the inevitable.

It was a nippy Saturday morning in January of 1946 when Bluebelle awoke to find an unfortunate surprise awaiting her that morning. She rolled over in the bed that she and her mother shared to give Freckles a kiss on the cheek and wished her a good morning. Normally, Freckles responded pleasantly, but there was something different about the old dog that morning. She seemed unresponsive and her body felt cold when Bluebelle kissed her cheek. Being only 11 years old, though her body only 5 ½, Bluebelle did not know what to do. She nudged her mother's cold body and began calling out to her, first calmly, then in a subtle panic, "Mommy! Mommy! Wake up mommy! Wake up, please!"

Mrs. Mulcahey heard her from her bedroom and came in. "What's wrong dear," she asked, although from what she saw, she already knew what the answer was. "Mommy's not getting up, Mrs. Mulcahey," Bluebelle began to sniffle. Mrs. Mulcahey sat on the edge of the bed and held the confused little bear. It pained Mrs. Mulcahey to say it, but Freckles had passed away during the night due to complications with her diabetes. Bluebelle began crying heavily until her body shook with tears. She knew that her mother was old and that she had been very sick, but she did not like having to accept that her mother had died.

That afternoon, the Mulcaheys prepared a funeral for their dearly departed dog. Katherine and Bluebelle decided to help decorate the living room for the funeral by making a mural of pictures. There were several old black and white photos of Freckles and Bluebelle together that ended up making Bluebelle begin crying heavily again, leaving Katherine to completing most of the mural herself. Francis found an old plywood board in the shed to make a tombstone with. Mrs. Mulcahey found a cardboard box in the basement that they could use as a coffin. She also found some fake flowers to help decorate the living room where the funeral mass would be held.

When everything was prepared to the best of everyone's ability, they began the funeral mass in the living room. Francis, who had become interested in religion over the past few years, delivered the sermon for Freckles' funeral mass. There was not a dry eye in the house as they all said their goodbyes.

Once the funeral mass had ended, they all put on their coats, gloves, hats, boots, and other warm things in preparation to dig a hole in which to bury Freckles. They decided that the proper place for this was next to the dog house. With the ground being frozen over, it was very difficult to dig a deep enough hole, but after an hour or so the four Mulcaheys had a three foot hole large enough to fit the box that contained the remains of Freckles. They then went inside to retrieve the dog. As they all carried the box outside, Francis began leading them in singing "On Eagles Wings," one of the family's favorite church songs. This somehow seemed to help them out as they placed the box as gently as possible in the hole and began covering it with dirt.

With Freckles now under the earth, the family set up the tombstone and said a few prayers. They placed a few of the fake flowers that they had used to decorate the living room in front of her grave. Mrs. Mulcahey held Bluebelle and the children both to comfort them and to keep them warm, but she knew that being outside for much longer would not be good for them. Though she knew they were grieving, she told them that for their own health, they needed to go inside.

That night at dinner, Bluebelle barely ate. She stared down at her food, moving it about lazily on her plate with her fork. The rest of the family tried to cheer her up, but it was no use. Bluebelle excused herself from the dinner table and went into her and her mother's room to be alone.

Mrs. Mulcahey was concerned about Bluebelle not only because she had lost her adoptive mother, but because she had come to know how the little bear had a way of bottling up her feelings rather than letting them out. She figured that for now the little bear needed her alone time, but she knew that she would need to approach her soon before she got any worse.

That night, Bluebelle cried herself to sleep, clutching her favorite stuffed bunny, Raggy, tightly. She remembered when Freckles and Mrs. Mulcahey gave her Raggy for Christmas when she was still very young and how the bunny had been so special to her. She held the bunny tightly in longing for her mother.

In her restless sleep, she began having dreams about her mother coming back from the dead. In the dream, she could see the ghost of her mother begin to move lazily down the hall toward her bedroom, calling out to her. Freckles' ghost stopped in front of the bedroom door. She wagged her tail as she called out to her daughter. Bluebelle wanted to run up to her and give her a hug and kiss, but felt her own body not being able to move. She called out to her mother, saying how much she missed her and wanted to come up to her and mysteriously couldn't, but her words were swept away. Freckles' ghost slowly began fading as Bluebelle tried harder and harder to be with her mother.

Bluebelle woke up suddenly. She sat up in her bed screaming and crying for her mother, holding Raggy in a death grip. Mrs. Mulcahey ran into her bedroom in a panic to try to console the little bear. Francis and Katherine followed shortly after to check on their dear friend. Bluebelle couldn't help shaking in fear and loneliness as Mrs. Mulcahey picked her up and held her. The children gathered closely to console the crying bear.

When Bluebelle had calmed down a bit, the family sat down on the bed. Mrs. Mulcahey decided that this was the opportune time to ask Bluebelle about how she felt. As Mrs. Mulcahey had feared, Bluebelle did not want to talk about her feelings. "Let me tell you something Bluebelle," she said in a soothing voice. "You never got the chance to meet my husband, Patrick, because he died in an accident at the factory where he worked. When he died, Francis, Katherine, and I were devastated, much like I'm sure you feel right now. He loved us all very much, just like Freckles loved you, and we loved him just as much, just like how you love your mother. When he died, we couldn't have a wake for him like we had for Freckles in the living room because his body had been too mangled by him getting caught in the machinery. He died a horribly painful death." She could not go on with her story for she had begun crying. Both Bluebelle and the children gave her a hug to comfort her. "Mrs. Mulcahey," Bluebelle began, "I didn't know you felt that way." Mrs. Mulcahey nodded with a small smile. "Yes dear, death is a part of life. We must all have our beginning and we must all end. But more importantly, I've been very concerned about you keeping your feelings to yourself because both the children and I know what you are going through. We're here for you because we love you Bluebelle!" Again she began crying as she held the little bear. Bluebelle hadn't realized that she had made Mrs. Mulcahey worry so much and felt guilty. Between tears, she said, "I'm sorry I made you worry Mrs. Mulcahey. I just miss mommy so much that I didn't want to think about anything else."

Katherine and Francis understood perfectly well how Bluebelle felt. Francis patted Bluebelle on the back as he told her, "I remember when dad died. He was teaching me how to play soccer around that time and I remember being so upset that I kicked my soccer ball down the hall so hard that I broke the wicker hamper." This made everyone smile.

Katherine began her story. "I was so upset that I couldn't walk in front of the cemetery where daddy was buried on my way to school. I walked the long way for a month! I wouldn't even let mom drive in front of it when we would go places or I'd start screaming." Bluebelle knew these things were foolish, but she was glad to hear them say how they felt. She decided to tell them about her dream.

When she finished telling them about the dream and how she was feeling, she discovered that she felt a lot better. Mrs. Mulcahey offered to let Bluebelle sleep in her bed that night and she graciously accepted, but first she wanted to go outside to her mother's grave once more before going to bed. Everyone put on their coats and other winter apparel to go outside with Bluebelle.

It was very cold and dark outside that night. The wind blew hard and snow had fallen while they were inside, but this did not stop the determined blue bear. She kneeled down at the foot of the grave, put her hands down on the frozen ground, and said tearfully, "Thank you for everything mommy. I love you." When she had finished, she turned around slowly and looked up at Mrs. Mulcahey and the children. "Thank you all for everything too. I love you."

Chapter 5: Father Mulcahey Goes to War

As the children grew up, they both discovered the religious studies. This inspired both of them to pursue work in these fields. After graduating from high school, Francis became a Chaplin and joined the military to help pay his way through seminary school. Katherine had earned several scholarships from basketball, bowling, and music and went off to become a nun, where she was renamed Sister Angelica. They both went their separate ways as they went on to seminary school.

Although Mrs. Mulcahey was glad that her children would be doing things that would benefit other people, she was beginning to feel lonely without her children around and knowing that there would be no grandchildren. Freckles passed away in 1946 from diabetes, so she was also without her dog's company. Mrs. Mulcahey was grateful that Bluebelle was still with her to keep her company in her golden years.

Her appreciation of Bluebelle's company grew as soon as Francis was drafted in the Korean War in 1950. Bluebelle was still in high school at the time, but had Bluebelle not been there for Mrs. Mulcahey during that time, heaven only knows how she would have handled.

The entire family wrote to Francis oversees and were all thrilled that he was spreading happiness to some of the local orphans at St. Theresa's Orphanage in Uijongbu, (pronounced we-jon-boo) South Korea. He was stationed at a MASH (mobile army surgical hospital) unit called the 4077th that was only three miles from the front lines of battle. Francis often wrote how he felt he could be more useful to the unit he served with, but ever hopeful, he wrote of how he continued to do his best. He even wrote about some of his successes with the 4077th, which made the family very happy for him. Some of the other soldiers stationed at the 4077th wrote to the family as well, and they all said nothing but good things about Father Mulcahey.

Father Mulcahey often wrote about the people he was stationed with. Bluebelle particularly enjoyed hearing about Corporal Max Klinger, a young man of Lebanese decent that dressed in woman's clothes in an attempt to get a section 8 (a military discharge reserved for crazy persons.) Every once and a while, Francis would send snap shots of Klinger home to the family. These would make Bluebelle laugh until her sides were sore. Klinger, despite being a bit loony, was a good man who just wanted to go home.

She also liked hearing about the rest of the surgeons. The man in charge of the 4077th was a man named Henry Blake. He was rather soft and did not like discipline, but was a very devoted surgeon. Father Mulcahey wrote about how he was later replaced when he went home, but that he hadn't made it because his plane tragically crashed over the Sea of Japan. Colonel Blake was then replaced by Colonel Sherman Potter. Colonel Potter was a grandfatherly old man who was originally in the cavalry in World Wars 1 and 2. He was an equally devoted surgeon as his predecessor. Colonel Potter enjoyed painting and loved horses. He eventually ended up getting a horse that had been wounded near the camp, which made him very happy.

One of Francis's favorite surgeons was a man they called Hawkeye. He explained that Hawkeye's father nicknamed him that from his favorite book, The Last of the Mohegan's. Hawkeye was quite a character. He could be wild, drunken, lecherous and at times reckless, but at the same time, he could be the most compassionate and dedicated doctor in the world. His skills as a doctor and surgeon had made him Chief Surgeon at the 4077th.

Hawkeye's gift as a surgeon often arouse jealousy in Major Frank Burns, a sniveling, incompetent weasel of surgeon. Major Burns was a greedy man who cared only for his own welfare. Most everyone called Major Burns "Ferret Face" for his behavior.

Major Burns was even having an affair with the Head Nurse, a feisty blond with a quick temper by the name of Major Margaret Houlihan. Father Mulcahey wrote about how Major Houlihan eventually became engaged and married (for a short time that is) and how Major Burns went section 8, thus bringing in Major Winchester.

Major Charles Emerson Winchester (the third) was a poppas, egotistical surgeon whose belittling words were as sharp as the scalpel he used for surgery. He loved classical music, opera, fine wines, and anything cultured in life, which made staying at the 4077th a rowdy nightmare for him. Father Mulcahey often wrote that Major Winchester's behavior was more of a cover-up for the fear he felt of getting too close to anyone he worked with. He often overheard him either working with a patient, sending a message to his family on his tape recorder. Sometimes, Charles came in for confession where he could talk to him. Deep down, Major Winchester was a good, sensitive person, but he did not like showing that side very often.

Hawkeye's partner in crime was a man named "Trapper" John McIntire, who was Hawkeye's equal in behavior. Trapper was later shipped home and replaced with B.J. Honeycutt, a milder mannered man who loved practical jokes and drank as much as Hawkeye. B.J. often spoke of his beloved wife, Peg, to whom he was faithfully devoted to and his baby daughter, Erin, that he left behind reluctantly because of the war.

B.J. and Hawkeye became the best of friends and were idolized by the company clerk, Corporal "Radar" O'Reilly. They called him Radar because he often could tell when something would happen before it happened. Radar was a young, naive boy from Iowa who loved animals. He was very devoted to his work, making everything run smoothly. Everyone seemed to depend upon him. He was later sent home because his uncle, who was in charge of the farm where he lived, passed away. He was needed at home.

In April of 1953, the Korean War had ended. Bluebelle was just about to graduate from high school when this had happened. She was ecstatic that Father Mulcahey would be home to see her graduation.

That summer after the war ended, Father Mulcahey accepted a job with his old commanding officer, Colonel Potter, to work as the Chaplin at General Pershing Veterans Administration Hospital in River Bend, Missouri. Max Klinger, now out of woman's clothing, and his war bride, Soon-Lee, also accepted jobs at the hospital.

Francis and his sister Katherine were now on opposite ends of the state of Missouri, which amused both Mrs. Mulcahey and Bluebelle.

Their amusement was short lived. A month after Father Mulcahey had left for his job at General Pershing's Hospital, Mrs. Mulcahey had to be hospitalized for having heart trouble. She was hooked up to several machines to help her keep living. The doctors knew that she was going to need surgery in a few days, and Father Mulcahey knew just the man to call: Hawkeye.

Hawkeye and Father Mulcahey had become very close during the war, and Hawkeye told him that if he needed anything when they had gotten back to the states, all he had to do was call. Hawkeye was not expecting him to need something so soon! Had he known what had happened, he would not have gotten himself drunk that night when Father Mulcahey called.

Within a day, Hawkeye flew from his home in Crab Apple Cove, Maine to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to perform surgery on Mrs. Mulcahey. He was still a bit hung over from the previous night, but Father Mulcahey assured everyone that he would do just fine. Hawkeye drank profusely during the war and was still able to perform surgery flawlessly, much to everyone's surprise, so Father Mulcahey was confident that Hawkeye would save his mother's life.

Four hours in surgery proved to be successful. Though weak, Mrs. Mulcahey had indeed survived the surgery. The family was allowed into the recovery room to visit her, that is except Bluebelle. Hawkeye took one look at her and said, "I'm sorry, no pets allowed." Bluebelle was very much offended by this. She was just about to give him a piece of her mind when Father Mulcahey stepped in. He explained to Hawkeye that Bluebelle was not their pet and that she was just as much part of the family as the next person. It took a lot of persuading on the family's part, but eventually Hawkeye gave in under one condition. Bluebelle would have to put on scrubs, gloves, a surgical mask, and a surgical cap so that she would not infect anything. Bluebelle was not happy about his request, but decided that she would go through with it so that she could see Mrs. Mulcahey.

Mrs. Mulcahey was in the hospital for a week before the doctors said she was ready to go home. The problem was, there was no one to take care of her when she would be released. Francis would be working in the hospital in River Bend, Missouri and Katherine was Mother Superior with the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri. Father Mulcahey, Sister Angelica, and Bluebelle went down to the hospital's cafeteria to discuss this issue while their mother went for some physical therapy.

"We can't just put her in some kind of old folks home," Sister Angelica said, "she's not even 50!" Father Mulcahey and Bluebelle nodded in agreement. "Sis, I don't know about you, but I might just be able to quit my job and work in some church here," Father Mulcahey offered. Both the girls looked shocked. "No Francis," Bluebelle said, "You like your job being Chaplin at the hospital. We couldn't ask you to do that!" He put his head down. "I know, but what other choice do we have," he said. Sister Angelica sat back in her chair, deep in thought. She did not want to see her brother give up his new job because he was happy doing it, but she knew that her job as Mother Superior was too important for her to give up.

Bluebelle too sat back in her chair to think. She was thankful that she was sitting down because sitting always seemed to help her think clearer. Both Francis and Katherine had been like a brother and sister to her and she knew that their careers meant the world to them. She hadn't even started a career yet, but she had planned on taking some teaching courses at the local community college in the fall. At the same token, she was 18 now (though her body was still 9) and still living at home, making her an ideal candidate for staying at home with Mrs. Mulcahey.

Bluebelle didn't even look up when she suggested staying home with Mrs. Mulcahey. The two church figures looked at her in disbelief. "Bluebelle," Father Mulcahey said still shocked, "I thought you wanted to start going to school to become a teacher!" "I do," she said, this time looking them in the eye, "But one of us has to stay with her. Besides, this heart procedure is going to cost a lot of money, so I can't afford tuition right now. Besides, I'm 18 now, making me able to sign any papers saying I'm in charge of the house. And I can drive her to and from doctors visits. Anyway, I can always go to college a bit later when we have the money." She tried to sound confident about this decision, but inside she was a bit heart broken about having to delay her teaching degree. At the same time, she did not want to loose Mrs. Mulcahey just as she had lost Freckles. She was far too afraid of being alone. Despite these feelings, she kept what she felt bottled up so as not to worry anyone.

The three discussed the issue for a few hours more before they made their final decision. Bluebelle was to take care of Mrs. Mulcahey while Father Mulcahey and Sister Angelica sent her money to help with expenses.

Chapter 6: The Weather Takes Another Fateful Toll

Many years passed since the surgery and it was now 1989. Mrs. Mulcahey was now 84 years old and Bluebelle was 54, although she seemed to be half that age (she was roughly 27 or so since she continued to age twice as slowly as everyone else.) Mrs. Mulcahey still had several problems with her heart, but was able to retire from teaching. The two lived on her Social Security as comfortably as they possibly could. The lack of money and Mrs. Mulcahey's health problems had unfortunately caused Bluebelle to delay her teaching dreams for longer than she had wanted, but at the same time, she did not regret taking care of Mrs. Mulcahey.

One spring day that year, there was a severe storm brewing outside the house where Mrs. Mulcahey and Bluebelle lived. The two of them thought nothing of the darkening clouds as they sat safely in the living room sipping lemonade and playing gin rummy as they listened to their favorite old radio show from the 50's, Hopalong Cassidy, on the classic radio show station. They hadn't even bothered changing out of their church clothes. Mrs. Mulcahey had on a lovely flowered dress with her old shawl and Bluebelle had on her favorite yellow seersucker dress.

All of the sudden Hopalong Cassidy was interrupted by the local news man. He reported that a tornado warning had been issued for the Philadelphia area. Bluebelle decided to go to the window to have a look outside just to be sure. Her jaw dropped as she saw an enormous funnel cloud descending from the sky about a block down the road. She ran to Mrs. Mulcahey in an attempt to help the old woman get to the basement as quickly as possible, telling her of the oncoming funnel cloud.

Much to their misfortune, the warning had come to them a little too late. Before they knew it, the house had been lifted off of the ground with them in it, knocking them off their feet. Debris flew through the windows, breaking them. Pictures, knick knacks, and everything else in the living room began flying around and crashing into everything. Even the old records became like flying circular saws, cutting through the walls and old furniture. The cushioned side of the couch fell onto Bluebelle, who then gripped it with fear for her life. The tornado threw the house several feet from it's foundation, leaving it in ruin.

Bluebelle luckily survived the disaster with a few bruises and scrapes since she had been sheltered by the couch. Readjusting her glasses and wriggling out from under the couch, Bluebelle gave a look of total shock at what she saw. It was almost too much for her to bare thinking that the pile of ruin that she was right in the middle of was just a few minutes ago her loving home. It was then that she thought about Mrs. Mulcahey. She began franticly searching the remains of the living room, calling out the old woman's name. It did not take long to find her lifeless body half covered in part of the wall.

Bluebelle stood stunned, unable to speak as tears began running down her cheeks. She began to pray silently over what had happened to poor Mrs. Mulcahey and to the house. She knew that Mrs. Mulcahey was very old and that some day would die, but she never expected her to pass on in such a violent way. She felt even worse than the day Freckles had passed away. Knowing that Mrs. Mulcahey could not have a peaceful death like her mother had made her feel indescribable pain.

After her prayers were finished, she decided that the only thing to do now was to leave the ramshackle house and look for help. She found that the most accessible exit was a busted out window in the living room.

Just as she jumped out the window, she caught sight of a baby hedgehog near the remains of the window. He had a few shards of broken glass deeply embedded in his right paw and she could tell that he was in excruciating pain. The rest of his family had either been squished by the fallen house or had been stabbed to death by broken glass, leaving him an orphan. The baby hedgehog looked at Bluebelle with a look of longing in his eyes as if he knew that Bluebelle was his only hope of survival. Bluebelle felt pity for the injured creature and knew in her heart that she could not withstand another death if she could help it. She reached back in the window and grabbed the remains of the curtains to make a bandage for the hedgehog's paw and to try to make a makeshift blanket to shelter the shivering baby. She now had no choice but to find help, fast.

Chapter 7: The Teacher's Bear

It didn't take long to find the help she was looking for. Fire fighters and paramedics were looking all over the town for survivors. Bluebelle ran up to one of the paramedics, who looked very surprised to see a navy blue bear in torn a yellow dress and glasses carrying a wounded hedgehog.

Bluebelle explained her situation and how Mrs. Mulcahey had died. The paramedic, who's name was Derrick Arnoff, knew exactly who Mrs. Mulcahey was because she had taught him in school years back. He then remembered how Mrs. Mulcahey would tell stories about her unique blue bear. He even remembered Bluebelle helping out with some of the schools functions long ago. He was very sorry to hear that his old teacher had died such a gruesome death.

He took a look at the baby hedgehog's paw. He could tell that the injury was serious by how much the hedgehog wriggled about in pain. Since animals were not his expertise, he decided that the best thing to do was to rush Bluebelle and the injured hedgehog to the nearest animal hospital in the next town.

The vet in the next town, who's name was Dr. Miller, was expecting to see many wounded animals from the storm, but the last thing she expected to see a was a human like navy blue bear wearing glasses and a tattered yellow dress carrying in a wounded hedgehog. At first she thought she was hallucinating from lack of sleep, but as the bear came closer to the desk with the paramedic, she realized that the unusual creature was very real.

"Um…Can I help you?" the vet asked. Bluebelle was about to open her mouth when Dr. Arnoff interrupted. "We've got a wounded baby hedgehog and this is the teacher's bear from the next town over. She's got some scrapes and bruises, but the hedgehog doesn't look so good." Dr. Miller raised her eyebrow as she looked at the bear and the hedgehog bundled in her arms. "The teacher's bear, eh?" she said skeptically. Bluebelle gave a weak smile as she spoke. "I found him outside my house after the tornado hit it." She held out the hedgehog so that the veterinarian could see his injury. Rather than looking at the soon to be patient, Dr. Miller called for a nurse. "Follow Nurse Kelly into an examining room teacher's bear," Dr. Miller said. "I'll be in shortly to look at the hedgehog." Bluebelle wanted to tell the doctor her name and explain a few things to her, but Dr. Miller walked away too quickly for her to do so.

Nurse Kelly approached the navy bear with a friendly hello. "Please follow me into the examination room Miss," she said pleasantly. Bluebelle smiled back at the nurse, glad to see that someone at the office had a pleasant attitude. She waved good bye to Dr. Arnoff as she followed the nurse into the examination room.

Dr. Miller was in the examination room waiting for them to come in. She was ready to see what was wrong with the baby hedgehog in the teacher's bear's arms. Bluebelle explained how she had found the baby animal near the remains of her house's broken window as she showed the vet the shards of glass embedded deeply in his right paw. Dr. Miller picked up the injured hedgehog to get a better look, but the little hedgehog was very nervous being handled by the vet and began wriggling about. As Dr. Miller began trying to look at the flailing hedgehog's injury, he began to urinate on her from being nervous. Both Nurse Kelly and Bluebelle couldn't help smiling at the incident. Dr. Miller turned around to see them try to conceal their smiles and gave them a dirty look. "I heard those smirks!" she said in a venomous tone.

After a few more failed attempts to look at her patient, Dr. Miller decided to give him a tranquilizer to settle him down so that she could further examine him and get some x-rays of the paw. "Tranquilizer!" Bluebelle exclaimed, "He's just a baby! Won't that hurt him?" Dr. Miller's patience was beginning to run out. "Is he allergic to it?" she asked sarcastically. Bluebelle paused for a moment to think. "Well…I don't know. I only found him…" Dr. Miller interrupted her sentence. "Then we really should tranquilize him teacher's bear! We need to examine him and take x-rays, and if he keeps up his wiggle worm act we can't get anything accomplished!"

Bluebelle went silent. She wanted what was best for the little baby, and she certainly didn't like how the vet was handling the situation. She looked at Nurse Kelly in hope that she would get some kind of signal from her saying that she was right. Nurse Kelly looked back at her and said, "The doctor is right Miss. We need to examine him in a way that's going to be best for him." Bluebelle sighed as she met eyes with the vet. "Okay, give him the tranquilizer. But if anything happens to him, on your head be it!"

After the x-rays, a few tests, and a thorough examination, Dr. Miller felt that the best way to treat the affected paw was amputation up to the elbow. Bluebelle was horrified at the idea of having the hedgehog loose his front right paw up to his elbow.

"Won't that cost him his mobility and freedom?" she asked the vet. Dr. Miller paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. She was getting tired of this bear's doubts about her professional knowledge, but at the same time did not want to loose her temper. "Yes, little bear, he will suffer some complications, but it's not uncommon for animals to loose a limb in nature." Bluebelle looked skeptically upon the vet. "And just how do they do that?" she asked. "Quite simply," the vet began. "There have been incidents where an animal gets a leg caught in a trap and gnaws off the trapped leg in order to escape. From there, they live fairly normal lives." Dr. Miller was rather pleased to see Bluebelle's horrified expression after learning the nature fact. "You can't be serious!" she questioned the vet. "I am," came the doctor's nonchalant response. "Besides, we can always put him in a petting zoo so that he won't be in any danger after the operation." "But, isn't there some other way?" Bluebelle asked franticly. Dr. Miller shook her head. "I'm afraid not, teacher's bear. Because of the glass, the bones and veins in his lower arm are lacerated and some parts of the bone are broken beyond repair. If we don't go through with the amputation, he'll die."

At the word "die," Bluebelle began to tear up. The last thing she wanted was to see the baby die if he had the chance to survive and be safe. "What do you mean?" she questioned. "How could he die?" "Gangrene," the vet responded. "Its where there is little or no blood flow to an affected limb. Since there is so much vein and tissue damage, his arm has basically been dead for about an hour. If left untreated, the arm will rot away, releasing a toxin into his bloodstream that will kill him. Do you understand now?" Bluebelle nodded. "I hadn't realized how complicated his injury was," she said. With tears in her eyes, Bluebelle agreed to have the vet go through with the operation. She signed the papers that would allow Dr. Miller to amputate the baby hedgehog's arm.

Still holding the tranquilized hedgehog, Bluebelle brought him up to Dr. Miller to have an IV put into him for the operation. He weakly wriggled around a bit, but soon the IV was in and the hedgehog drifted off to sleep in Bluebelle's arms from the anesthesia. While sleeping, the vet picked him up from Bluebelle and placed him on a gurney table to prep him for surgery. Dr. Miller then turned to the nurse present in the room and told her "Nurse Kelly, take the teacher's bear into another room and treat her wounds."

"Come on, dear. Let's go," said the nurse. "You've done all that you could, now it's up to the doctor and the Almighty." The nurse escorted Bluebelle into the room across the hall, but Bluebelle looked over her shoulder as she walked across the hall, keeping her eyes on sleeping baby hedgehog on the gurney table.

During the operation, Nurse Kelly treated Bluebelle's minimal wounds. The worst that Bluebelle had to have treated was the need for a few stitches on her shoulder. Otherwise, peroxide and a few bandages patched her up. During the treatment, Bluebelle asked the nurse a few questions.

"Nurse Kelly, may I ask you a few questions about animals?" Bluebelle inquired. "Certainly!" she said, "What's on your mind?" "Well," she began, clearing her throat, "do they really chew off their legs if they get caught in traps?" The nurse nodded. Bluebelle shuttered at the thought. "And, um, what is the survival rate of baby animals in nature?" The nurse sat back to think for a bit. "Well, it's mostly determined by what they are exposed to. For instance, they are often eaten by bigger animals. The ones who survive that have things like nutrition deficiency, disease, and unfortunate weather to deal with, much like your hedgehog." Bluebelle covered her mouth in shock. She hadn't realized how tough nature could be. She swallowed hard as she asked her next question. "How often do baby animals survive when they come here?" The nurse breathed a deep sigh. "We don't often get them in," the nurse began, "but when we do, it just depends upon how strong they are. Some do really good and we can let them leave, but then again, there are some that aren't so lucky."

Bluebelle had heard enough. The nurse gave her a warm smile in an attempt to console the bear, but Bluebelle was not in the mood. "You're all done Miss. Do you want to wait in the waiting room until the hedgehog is out of surgery?" Bluebelle nodded weakly, not even looking up at the nurse.

From there, Bluebelle sat anxiously in the waiting room for what seemed to her like an eternity for the baby hedgehog's amputation to be finished. She thumbed through some of the old magazines, paced around the room, prayed, stared at the clock, and did just about anything she could to stop from worrying. No matter what she did, she couldn't stop thinking about the baby hedgehog getting part of his arm chopped off. "How will he manage?" she thought to herself. "How is he ever going to get by without all four legs? Is he going to be okay at a petting zoo? Will he want to simply live with only three legs or will this affect him emotionally? Will living in a petting zoo affect him negatively in an emotional way? Do animals get affected emotionally? I mean, I'm a bear and I have emotions, but I'm human too, sort of. Am I different from him? If he's anything like me, will he remember me? Will he be angry with me? Will he ever be able to forgive me?"

She was like this for two and a half hours before Nurse Kelly opened a door. "He's ready now. You can see him," she said. The very determined bear did not waste any time running through the door to check up on the little hedgehog.

After the amputation was completed, the baby hedgehog awoke in a recovery room feeling rather groggy. Bluebelle saw him move his head around to look at her as she came through the door. He seemed to be very happy to see Bluebelle come into the recovery room for him, and he showed it by reaching out to her as if he wanted to be picked up and held. Bluebelle, a bit shocked to see so many tubes attached to the little one, picked up the baby hedgehog and cradled him in her arms to comfort him. She felt as if the weight of the world left her shoulders as she held him, knowing that he was going to be alright. She could tell that he was in less pain now and that he was comforted by being held. Nurse Kelly mentioned that he looked rather grateful that she had taken such care of him in his time of need. Bluebelle agreed that deep down in his heart, she was sure he was very grateful. With that, she decided to name the little hedgehog Grateful Heart. At that moment, Grateful Heart looked up at Bluebelle and gurgled happily. Looking at his face, Bluebelle thought that he seemed like he was smiling.

Unintentionally breaking up the tender moment, Dr. Miller came into the recovery room to check up on her patient. "Don't worry," she said to Bluebelle, "He pulled through just fine." After another examination and removing some of the tubes, the vet decided that he needed some rest. There was a wing in the animal hospital for baby animals. The vet thought that it would be best if Grateful Heart spent the night there.

Bluebelle was uncomfortable about having baby animals sleep in cages, despite the fact that the vet already had a baby skunk, a baby billygoat, a baby fox, a baby wolf, a baby weasel, and a baby badger resting in the cages already. Dr. Miller was not in the mood to have another argument with the navy blue bear. "Where else are we going to put them? Bungee cord them to the ceiling?" she said sarcastically. "You know," Bluebelle began, "you don't have to be so sarcastic!" The vet took a deep breath and apologized for her tone. "I'm sorry, but we do not want them wondering around causing mischief," she said. "I'm sorry if you don't approve, but I am a trained professional and I would appreciate your cooperation." "But what if he needs me?" Bluebelle protested. "I've had enough of this!" Dr. Miller squealed. "Nurse Kelly! Take the teacher's bear's hedgehog and put him in the cage!" With that, Nurse Kelly took Grateful Heart from Bluebelle's arms.

Suddenly, the little hedgehog began to cry. What was so unusual about it's crying was that it sounded much like a human baby crying. Both the nurse and vet were astonished by this, especially Nurse Kelly who was holding little Grateful Heart. "Um…Dr. Miller? He's crying," she said in astonishment. Dr. Miller reassured her of putting the fussy baby hedgehog in the cage. "Just put the teacher's bear's hedgehog in the cage. He'll be fine."

What happened next surprised everyone even more than the crying. Just as the nurse began to lower the crying hedgehog into the cage, he started screaming out what sounded like babbled words. "Tetur Bar! Tetur Bar!" (Teacher Bear! Teacher Bear!) "Tetur Bar! WAAAAAA!!" the baby screamed as loud as he could. The nurse froze in mid-action. "Um...I think he just said "teacher bear"… or something," Nurse Kelly said to the vet. It seemed that Grateful Heart had picked up on everyone calling Bluebelle "the teacher's bear" and tried to say it himself because he wanted to be with her. Dr. Miller, equally shocked, decided that perhaps the teacher's bear was right and that the baby hedgehog needed to go back to her. "Well, what are you waiting for, Nurse Kelly! Give him back to…Teacher Bear!"

The nurse then handed the crying baby hedgehog back to Bluebelle saying "Here you go Teacher Bear." Bluebelle thanked her and held Grateful Heart close, telling him in a soothing voice that he was going to be just fine. With his good arm, Grateful Heart hugged Bluebelle and finished his crying on her shoulder.

Dr. Miller was then faced with the dilemma of where to put the teacher's bear and her hedgehog. Bluebelle suggested one of the recovery rooms since there was a bed and several blankets. The vet agreed that a recovery room was the best place. Bluebelle then looked back at the rest of the baby animals in the cages. Both Dr. Miller's yelling and Grateful Heart's crying woke them all up and they looked like they needed someone to take care of them too. "Please Dr. Miller, could the other baby animals stay with us, just for tonight?" Bluebelle pleaded with the vet. Reluctantly, the vet agreed. She no longer felt like arguing with the teacher's bear anymore tonight, especially since she knew there would be more wounded animals arriving soon. "Nurse Kelly, prep the room for Teacher Bear and all the baby animals" she said exhaustedly. She was hoping that the next round of animals wouldn't be as unusual as the teacher's bear and her hedgehog.

One by one, Bluebelle got all of the baby animals settled down in blankets in the recovery room. She had the baby billygoat, the baby fox and baby wolf on the floor, the baby skunk, the baby weasel and the baby badger on the guest chairs, and Grateful Heart on the end of the bed (he was still rather traumatized and she wanted to make sure he was alright.)

Bluebelle tried to sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't. She couldn't help thinking about what had just happened with Grateful Heart. "He had just spoke!" she thought to herself. "Am I affecting on him in some way?" She looked at the sleeping hedgehog at the foot of her bed. She noticed that his nose was beginning to look different, like it was beginning to resemble her own heart shaped nose.

She then wondered if the other baby animals in the room were changing as well. She slid down from the bed to have a look. She couldn't resist walking around the dimly lit room to look at all of the sleeping animals. They were so cute!

Thoughts raced through her head all night as she walked around checking them out. She was trying to figure out why Grateful Heart began acting more like a human baby rather than a baby hedgehog. Before she could think more on the hedgehog's changes, it seemed like Grateful Heart and the others were beginning to change to look like her in very subtle ways. She could tell that the others noses were becoming more and more heart shaped just like hers.

Bluebelle sat down on the floor and leaned up against the wall to think some more. It always seemed that sitting down seemed to help her think better. She began thinking about how she had gotten the way that she had gotten. She vaguely remembered being very small and living in the guest bedroom with her adopted mother at the Mulcahey's house. She even remembered hearing stories about how she used to live in her adopted mother's dog house before moving into the family's house. No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember when she became the navy blue bear that she was. All the thinking started taking it's toll on her, and she soon began drifting off to sleep against the wall.

While Bluebelle slept, the baby animals began making the most dramatic changes. The smaller ones began to grow bigger and they all began developing human like postures. Their vocal chords began developing to make human noises. Each ones noses were becoming heart shaped in their sleep. They too began developing the same small red heart on their bottoms that Bluebelle had. Their fur was also changing color, although it was hard to tell in the dark room. They too were becoming that of future Care Bears Cousins, but of course this fact would not be known to them for years to come…

Chapter 8: The Colorful Mulcahey Cubs

Morning came, and Bluebelle found herself dozed off against the wall with her glasses still on. Once she had readjusted her glasses, her jaw dropped at the sight of the colorful baby animals before her. She wondered if she had had some kind of influence on them during the night by being around them.

Bluebelle started getting up, and found that she was stiff from sleeping up against the wall. She stretched out her back and thought that she had better go out into the hall to find the nurse while the little ones were still asleep. She knew that she and the baby animals would need some breakfast soon.

She carefully opened the door and peeked her head out. She saw Nurse Kelly down the hall and waved to her. Once she had gotten the nurse's attention, she gently closed the door so that she could tell the nurse what had happened over night with out disturbing the babies sleep.

"You're kidding!" Nurse Kelly exclaimed. Bluebelle shook her head. "I'm serious! Let me show you, but be quiet. Their still sleeping." Bluebelle gently opened the door so that the nurse could see the colorful babies. "Oh my word!" the nurse whispered. "Their so cute!" Bluebelle smiled at her reaction. "I know," she whispered back. "Pretty soon they'll want to wake up and eat. What should we do?" "We have some baby formula for them," she whispered in response. "Follow me and you can help me get it ready." With that, they gently closed the door on the colorful sleeping animals.

In the kitchen, Bluebelle and Nurse Kelly prepared several batches of formula. "You certainly seem to have a magical effect on everyone, Teacher Bear," Nurse Kelly said to Bluebelle with a smile as she poured the heated formula into baby bottles. As Bluebelle put the nipples the bottles, she stood there thinking about what the nurse had called her: Teacher Bear. She figured it made sense since the evening before everyone was calling her "the teacher's bear" and the incident where Grateful Heart spoke at the animal cages had much to do with it. She figured that it probably evolved from that. There was something about the name Teacher Bear that she liked, but before she could think about it any more, Nurse Kelly was ready with the rolling cart full of baby bottles.

All of the animals were hungry that morning, but none were near as hungry as the little yellow billygoat. Bluebelle and Nurse Kelly giggled at the way the billygoat was about making sure every last drop of formula was sucked out of the bottle before moving on to another one. Bluebelle and the nurse thought that naming the billygoat Hungry Heart was appropriate.

After breakfast, the little ones began exploring their surroundings, playing with the blankets that they had used for beds and playing with some of the other things in the room. What surprised her was how the children began playing more and more like human children and less and less like animals as the day progressed. The pink baby skunk began looking as though she was dressing herself in one of the blankets and in some of the dressing gowns found in the side table. She then discovered the mirror in the bathroom. Bluebelle gave her a boost so that she could see herself in the mirror. In Bluebelle's eyes, the little skunk looked silly, but to the skunk, she stared at what she saw in awe as if she thought she as absolutely beautiful. With that, she was named Pretty Heart.

The light purple baby wolf seemed like he wanted to get into every nook and cranny of the room. This made him be named Curious Heart. The orange baby weasel on the other hand was just the opposite. He was more interested in playing with some tongue depressors and magazines by himself than in exploring like the rest of the children. She could tell that he was very cautious, especially after he fell down following Curious Heart for a while. After a while, he began trying to work with the tongue depressors and the pictures in the magazines in a very systematic way, making Thorough Heart an appropriate name choice.

The red baby fox, who found the tongue depressors in the first place, seemed as though she did not mind sharing them at all. In fact, she seemed to really like sharing all of the treasures she found in the recovery room, thus making her name Charity Heart.

The blue baby badger, after doing his fair share of exploring, seemed much more content in looking at the pictures in a few of the magazines found in the room. He even helped some of the others tear out some of the pictures to use as paper dolls. Of all the children, he seemed the most passive child in the group, earning him the name Passive Heart.

What amazed the vet and nurses even more than the sophisticated child play was the fact that the children's fur had changed color. Grateful Heart Hedgehog was kelly green, Pretty Heart Skunk was baby pink, Hungry Heart Billygoat was butter yellow, Curious Heart Wolf was light purple, Charity Heart Fox was bright red (she was brown before), Passive Heart Badger was sky blue, and Thorough Heart Weasel was sunny orange. And they all started trying to talk by babbling like human babies!

Everyone at the animal hospital was amazed at the navy blue teacher's bear and the amazing baby animals. They had never seen anything like them! By now, everyone was beginning to call her Teacher Bear because not only was she the late teacher's bear from the other town, but because she had taught the baby animals all that they were doing. Bluebelle tried to explain that she did not teach the children much other than telling them stories and trying to teach them their names, but the staff thought more of what she was doing. They even began referring to the baby animals as Teacher Bear's cubs since she was a bear and bears have cubs.

A very amazed Dr. Miller gave the cubs another check up just to see what was going on. She did not understand how they had gotten the way that they were, but each little cub was in tip top condition, even little Grateful Heart who was lacking part of his right arm. She shook her head and smiled at Bluebelle. "You know, you're really a piece of work, Teacher Bear," she said. "I don't know how you did it, but these little ones are nothing short of amazing!" Bluebelle smiled at the compliment, still getting used to being called "Teacher Bear."

Bluebelle and the cubs would need to leave the hospital soon. The problem was, Bluebelle did not know where to go with the cubs. The problem was, neither did anyone else.

As luck would have it, Dr. Arnoff, the paramedic that brought her and Grateful Heart in, stopped by to see how his drop-offs were doing. He was known for checking in on his patients, so this did not surprise anyone but Bluebelle. She rushed up to Dr. Arnoff to give him a big hug and another thank you. After Bluebelle had finished hugging him, he got a good look at all the colorful cubs. He rubbed his eyes in astonishment to see all the colorful cubs.

After hearing about the issue with living quarters, he requested a homeless shelter in another part of Pennsylvania in order to help the navy blue bear until she was able to get herself and the little ones on their feet. Bluebelle was beside herself with relief at the offer and gladly accepted. With that, she and the paramedic began gathering the cubs into the ambulance to go to the shelter.

Everyone at the animal hospital was sad to see Bluebelle and the cubs leave, even Dr. Miller, but they knew that they had their work cut out for them. Before they left, Dr. Miller gave Bluebelle some pain medication for Grateful Heart. "Make sure he takes this only when he's in pain" explained Dr. Miller. "How will I know when he's in pain?" Bluebelle asked. Dr. Miller gave her a wink and a smile. "Don't worry Teacher Bear," she said, "you'll know. He'll start crying like when he's around me!" Bluebelle couldn't help but smile and hugged Dr. Miller, thanking her for all that she had done. She also hugged Nurse Kelly and thanked her for her kindness and hard work. As Bluebelle and the cubs were being driven off, everyone at the animal hospital waved and said "Goodbye Teacher Bear, little cubs!" Bluebelle waved back. The cubs waved back too, or at least tried to.

When they were all on the road, Dr. Arnoff began talking to Bluebelle. "You know, I feel kind of silly not remembering your name from long ago. I hope you weren't offended by me just calling you "the teacher's bear," but I didn't know what else to call you," Dr. Arnoff tried to explain. "That's alright, everyone else didn't know my name and called me that too," she said, smiling back to him. "My name is Bluebelle, but most of them started calling me Teacher Bear after last night." "Which do you prefer?" asked Dr. Arnoff. Bluebelle sat and thought for a minute. "I think…" she began, "I think I like Teacher Bear better, because it reminds me of Mrs. Mulcahey," she said as she thought about her past and the loss of a motherly figure. From that moment on, she decided to refer to herself as Teacher Bear out of respect for Mrs. Mulcahey.

Dr. Arnoff smiled. "I think that's a very considerate thing to do, Teacher Bear," he said to her. Teacher Bear smiled back at him, although she was lost in thought. She couldn't help but worry about her future with the little Mulcahey cubs and how she was ever going to take care of so many of them. She knew that they could not stay in the homeless shelter forever, and the issue of where to go after that picked at her mind to no end. Aside from handling the cubs, she did not say much the rest of the trip. She continued to worry silently as the ambulance rolled onward.

Little did she consider that high above her head full of worries, others just like her were also having an exciting time with babies…

Chapter 9: Other's Babies Just Like Mine

"Tender Heart!" a very pregnant Love-A-Lot Bear called out to her husband on her caring phone. "Tender Heart, call Take Care Bear! I think it's time!" As expected, Love-A-Lot had gone into labor with the married couple's first child.

Within a few minutes, the soon to be father, Tender Heart Bear, rushed through the door of the house towards his expectant wife. "Oh my gosh Love-A-Lot! Are you going to be okay?" he said in utter panic. "I'm fine," she began, "but I'm in a lot of pain!" Her face was screwed up in an expression of pain and misery as she spoke to her husband. They both knew that they had to get to Care-A-Lot's local doctor quickly.

"Hello!? Take Care!?" came Tender Heart's frantic voice through Take Care Bear's phone receiver, "It's Tender Heart! Love-A-Lot's going into labor!" "Calm down Tender Heart!" Take Care Bear replied to the father to be, "I'll be an ambulance in a few minutes and get everything taken care of." Tender Heart graciously thanked Take Care as his wife moaned in pain in the background.

Take Care Bear had to laugh to herself about how she was beginning to get used to situations like this. Three other married couples had recently had children of their own and Love-A-Lot was the last pregnant bear in Care-A-Lot for the time being. She had delivered Share Bear and Grumpy Bear's periwinkle little girl Strategy Bear, Cheer Bear and Champ Bear's yellow daughter Showbiz Bear, and Good Luck Bear and Polite Panda's twin girls, the green and white Fortune Panda Bear and the green and black Charm Panda Bear within the last month and a half.

Despite the fact that she was tickled to have the new additions to the Care Bear family, it seemed that Hugs and Tugs were the most excited by the new babies. They enjoyed helping the new parents take care of the new cubs as best as they could, and they weren't half bad at being care takers. The two older cubs were excited for when the babies would be a little older so that they would have new playmates. She figured new playmates would be good for Hugs and Tugs since they were chronically together. They would eventually need to be their own Care Bears and the new babies would probably help out in making that process smoother. Take Care Bear was a bit concerned about the fact that each new mother ended up having a girl. She figured that a boy would be best for Tugs, but that was beyond her control.

She walked to her ambulance thinking about the oldest cubs when she heard their familiar voices. "Wait Take Care!" Tugs yelled out his greeting. "Hi you too. I'm afraid I can't stay and chat," Take Care Bear began. "I have to…" "Love-A-Lot is going to have her baby, right?" Hugs finished her sentence while giving her one of the hugs she was famous for. Take Care Bear couldn't help smiling over the year old cub's enthusiasm over the new babies. "Yes, Love-A-Lot is in labor and I have to get there quickly," she explained. The cubs' eyes lit up as they asked simultaneously, "Can we come, please?" Take Care Bear shook her head, making the cubs disappointed. "An ambulance is no place for youngsters. This is not a joy ride," she began to explain, "But if you want to wait for the big event at my office, I'll let you two do something to help." The sparkle returned to the excited cubs' eyes as they accepted the possibility of helping out. They dashed into the doctor's office as Take Care Bear took her place behind the wheel to pick up the expectant mother and her husband.

Upon arrival, she was hastily greeted by Tender Heart Bear. "Hurry!" he bellowed, "She says the contractions are getting worse!" Love-A-Lot Bear wailed a painful hello as Take Care Bear began helping her get to the ambulance. Tender Heart grabbed her bags as his wife and the doctor made their way to the emergency vehicle. In no time, Take Care Bear was in the driver's seat with the sirens blaring heading toward her hospital to deliver the new baby.

Hugs and Tugs had their noses pressed up against the window waiting for the arrival of the ambulance. They were not the only Care Bears sitting in the waiting room for the new arrival. Grams Bear sat knitting, True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse were taking a quiz in a Reader's Digest magazine, Grumpy Bear and Share Bear were feeding their new baby Strategy Bear, Loyal Heart Dog was pacing the floor, Treat Heart Pig had brought a large plateful of brownies for the soon to be parents and began snacking on a few of them, Cheer Bear, whose husband Champ Bear was on a caring mission and couldn't be there, had her daughter Showbiz Bear cradled in her arms, Brave Heart Lion was listening to some music on his walkman, and Wish Bear read an article on the lives of Native Americans in a National Geographic magazine. The rest of the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins were either on caring missions or had other things that needed to be done.

"She's here!" the cubs shouted as they saw Take Care Bear pull up. They ran outside to greet her and see what they could do. They couldn't wait to help out.

"Okay you two," Take Care started, "I need you two to bring me a gurney so that I can get Love-A-Lot inside." "What's a gurney?" Hugs asked. "Oh Hugs!" Tugs began explaining to his sister, "A gurney is a thingy that makes babies come out of the mommy's tummy!" Take Care Bear, now regretting telling the cubs that they could help, explained that a gurney was a lightweight rolling table with cushioning to make it more comfortable to lay on. She told the cubs that she had kept them in the storage room. The cubs knew exactly what to do from there. Without hesitating, they ran top speed to the storage room to get the gurney table. Love-A-Lot let out another miserable moan from where she sat in the ambulance. "I can't believe you would let those two do something like this at a time like this!" she yelled in between Lamaze breathing. As calmly as she could, she said "Don't worry Love-A-Lot. Those two will come through for me." She secretly had some doubts of her own, but tried to put those thoughts aside and put her trust in the cubs.

Sure enough, the cubs had found the gurney table and rolled it out to the ambulance as quickly as they could, hitching a rolling ride a few times along the way. The four bears outside the hospital then hoisted the miserable Love-A-Lot onto the gurney and began rolling her inside. The other Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins in the waiting room looked on in curiosity and astonishment as they rolled by.

After getting into a room, the cubs asked for another task. Take Care Bear, under the pressure of an extremely cranky Love-a-Lot Bear and an anxiety stricken Tender Heart Bear, figured that the best thing for the cubs to do was to get out some dressing gowns for her and the soon to be parents, some rubber gloves, hair caps, and surgical masks. The cubs retrieved the items in little time. After that, Take Care Bear told them that the best place for them was the waiting room. "AAAWWWW!" the cubs protested, but Take Care Bear stood by her decision. They soon left the room with their heads down as Love-A-Lot continued to scream in agony.

"It's that time," said Take Care Bear. "Now Love-A-Lot, I need you to breath!" Love-A-Lot, squeezing Tender Heart's hand, began to continue her Lamaze breathing again. After she had calmed down a bit, Take Care Bear had her begin to try to push the baby out. As soon as Love-A-Lot began pushing, she began her screaming again.

In the waiting room, the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins were anxious. Champ Bear had returned from his caring mission and joined his wife and daughter in the waiting room. He was surprised to hear the screaming coming from the delivery room. "Boy, you didn't scream like that when you were in labor with our little sports fan, Cheer," he told his wife as she tried to settle little Showbiz. Both baby Showbiz and Strategy Bear were restless because of the screaming. "I wish she'd just have the baby and get it over with," Grumpy Bear complained as he tried to hush his fussy daughter.

Birthday Bear rushed into the waiting room. "What's all the screaming about?" he asked, cringing after hearing another blood curdling scream. "It's Love-A-Lot," Treat Heart Pig answered, brushing crumbs off her chest. "She's gone into labor." Birthday Bear noticed Treat Heart's action. "What were you snacking on Treat Heart?" Treat Heart began to blush. "Just some brownies I baked. I figured they wouldn't miss one or two." Birthday Bear looked down at the plate. "One or two?" Treat Heart gasped at the empty plate. "Oh dear. I must have been more nervous than I thought." Birthday Bear sat next to the embarrassed pig and put his arm around her. "Don't worry Treat Heart. I would have done the same thing," he told her. What he said made her feel better. "Oh Birthday, you are so sweet!" she said, holding his free hand. The rest of the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins watched the tender moment unfold. They could tell that a romance was budding between the two of them.

Suddenly, Love-A-Lot's screaming stopped and the sound of a baby crying replaced it. Tender Heart Bear walked out into the waiting room, his face beaming with pride. Everyone looked right at him, wanting to know everything that happened. "Well?" True Heart asked Tender Heart. Tender Heart grinned from ear to ear as he said "It's a boy. A beautiful, auburn baby boy!"

Later that night, all the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins filled the Hall of Hearts for the official naming ceremony. The only members of the Care Bear family that were missing were Good Luck Bear, Polite Panda, their twin daughters Fortune and Charm, and Perfect Panda. They were in Paradise Valley for the time being, but they were tuned in to the special event via Care-A-Lot Web Cam. Tender Heart and his wife Love-A-Lot, who was still in a rolling hospital bed, were in the center of the stage with their new son. As the ceremony came to a start, True Heart banged her gavel on the platform and made the announcement of the new baby. "Tender Heart and Love-A-Lot have given birth to a beautiful baby boy as you can see," she started. "Now comes the fun part! The name and tummy symbol will be given to the little one. For that, we need the assistance of The Great Wishing Star." As if on cue, Bright Heart Raccoon pushed a button on the wall causing the roof of the Hall of Hearts to open. The Great Wishing Star drifted down to Care-A-Lot to aid in helping name the auburn little boy, give him his tummy symbol, and distribute him his own special star buddy.

"Hello Care Bear family!" The Great Wishing Star said as he looked down at all of them. They waved back and smiled as they looked upon their luminous guest. "First of all," The Great Wishing Star began, "I would like to congratulate Tender Heart Bear and Love-A-Lot Bear for the birth of their new son. You two must be very proud." The two bears thanked The Great Wishing Star. "I think I speak for both of us when I say that I'm very proud of my son," Tender Heart said to The Great Wishing Star. Love-A-Lot nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure being born is not an easy thing to do," she added. "Especially with all your screaming going on in the process!" chimed in Playful Heart Monkey. "I could hear it all the way in the Forest of Feelings while I was doing my chores!" Everyone laughed, especially since whenever Playful Heart was doing "chores," it meant that he had something tricky up his sleeve. Love-A-Lot blushed. She hadn't realized how loud she was at the time, but she knew that they all realized how the pain she felt in childbirth was a productive pain. Had she not gone into labor that morning, she would not be holding her son that evening.

After the laughter calmed down, True Heart and Noble Heart decided that it was time to get down to business. "So Great Wishing Star," Noble Heart began, "what can you tell us about Tender Heart and Love-A-Lot's baby?" The Great Wishing Star looked down at the auburn little cub in Love-A-Lot's arms. The cub stared back at The Great Wishing Star in amazement. The rest of the family was on the edges of their seats in anticipation. They had remembered how within the last month and a half, The Great Wishing Star had seemed to look deep into the children's souls and could tell little bits about their future personalities. Strategy Bear's tummy symbol ended up being a heart shaped maze, Showbiz Bear's tummy symbol ended up being a star on a stage with curtains, Fortune Panda Bear's tummy symbol ended up being a horse shoe, and Charm Panda Bear's tummy symbol ended up being a charm bracelet. They all wanted to know what this little one was going to be like.

The Great Wishing Star and the baby cub looked eye to eye and smiled at each other. Suddenly, the cub began to sort of glow, which seemed to tickle him. He began to giggle as The Great Wishing Star examined his inner-most Care Bear. During the glowing process, a small orange star buddy floated down from the sky and approached the cub. This would the cub's special star buddy. Soon, the glowing stopped and The Great Wishing Star smiled in satisfaction. "You have a fine son. He will be a very affectionate, loving Care Bear much like his mother, but he will be strong willed and determined to help others at any cost like his father. He will enjoy giving bear hugs and will be big and strong. The name I would suggest for him is… Big Heart Bear." The family cheered. Love-A-Lot's eyes began to tear up with pride as she held her son. "I love the name Big Heart. Do you Tender Heart?" she asked her husband. "I couldn't have picked a finer name for our son Love-A-Lot," he replied, his eyes equally moist. The Great Wishing Star looked down at the new parents with a big smile on his face. "Very well you two," he began. "From this day forward little one, you shall be known as Big Heart Bear! Tender Heart, would you do the honor of giving your son his new tummy symbol?" Tender Heart jumped for joy. At that point in his life, this was the proudest moment. His tummy symbol lit up and a red heart floated from his tummy to his son's. The red heart twirled around Big Heart's tummy a few times before a symbol appeared. When the light receded from Big Heart's tummy symbol, it showed a very large red heart with a pink center.

After another round of applause, The Great Wishing Star bid the family a fond farewell and ascended back into the sky. Bright Heart pushed the roof button, causing it to close until they would need it again. True Heart then banged her gavel again to make an announcement. "Everyone please raise your glasses in a toast for our newest member into the Care Bear family, Big Heart Bear!" Everyone raised their glasses and cheered.

Before long, dinner was served. Grams Bear had prepared roast beef, parsley potatoes, corn bread, broccoli with cheese, cranberry sauce, and a big chocolate cake for dessert. After the meal, everyone brought their presents that they had prepared up to Tender Heart, Love-A-Lot, and Big Heart. The new bear family graciously opened the gifts in front of everyone so that they could all see their reactions. After the gifts, everyone left the Hall of Hearts little by little, waddling home with very full stomachs.

Tender Heart and Love-A-Lot left last with True Heart, Noble Heart, Take Care Bear and the baby Big Heart. On the way to the bear family's house, Take Care Bear helped fill in Big Heart Bear's birth certificate. Before long, Take Care Bear had Love-A-Lot settled down to sleep. She wanted to make sure that Love-A-Lot would be comfortable since she would still be recovering from childbirth. Tender Heart had put his new son in the cradle in the next room. Big Heart's star buddy floated through the window and landed next to him. "Take care of him little star buddy," Tender Heart said. "If he needs us, let us know." With that, he left the room to go to bed.

The first night as a new family was very peaceful. Each of them soon drifted off into a very deep sleep thanks to Bedtime Bear's sleeping sands.

Neither of them would have guessed that far below them on earth, there was a navy blue bear with a large family of cousin cubs all her own and that they had not had nearly as good of a day as they had…

To be continued…

Works Sited

Most important to me is giving credit to whom it belongs.

Father Mulcahey is my favorite character from the very popular television show MASH. His sister Katherine, also known as Sister Angelica, is only mentioned in the show, mostly through the mail. (Those letters were nicknamed 'nun-o-grams" rather than telegrams. ) MASH is loosely based on a real Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (the 8055th) in Uijongbu, South Korea that was stationed three miles from the front lines of battle during the Korean war, 1950-1953. MASH also happens to be my all time favorite television show, although that doesn't keep me from loving the Care Bears!

Although MASH was very successful, all good things must come to an end. After an impressive 11 season run, MASH concluded. Some of the actors in the show did not like seeing the show end and were able to persuade the directors to create a spin off show that came to be called After MASH. After MASH was not nearly as successful as it's predecessor and was canceled during it's second season.

Hopalong Cassidy was a very popular radio western that aired from 1950 to 1952. Later, television shows and movies were made from the famous radio show.

The song "On Eagles Wings" was written by Michael Joncas. It's an old church song.

The Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins are property of American Greetings and Nelvana, as you all know.

I got the name "Bluebelle" from my mother. That's what she called her first car!

I would like to thank my friends for all their help with getting this story off the ground: My best friend Trevor for his brutal honesty, Amber (Take Care Bear) for being the first one to hear about my fan fic idea and for posting it on her site, Robert (Good Luck Bear) for taking the time to read it and for sending it to Chuck (Noble Heart Horse), and to Chuck for reading it. Thank you all for your suggestions in the story. It would not be what it is if it hadn't been for you!

Also, to anyone who reads this long fan fic, thank you very much! After all, if it wasn't for you readers, there would be no point in writing. Now give your weary eyes a break! lol THANKS!


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